TikTok Prevents Political Fundraising Activities Ahead of US Elections

JAKARTA - TikTok recently tightened its policy to ban all fundraising by politicians and political groups on its platform.

This is done by the China-based social media ahead of the midterm elections in the United States (US) in November.

TikTok's president of global business solutions, Blake Chandlee, said the company would soon disable all advertising and monetization features, such as giving gifts and tips to politicians and party accounts.

Chandlee added that government accounts, politicians and political parties are also required to verify.

"By banning campaign fundraising and limiting access to our monetization tools and verifying accounts, we aim to strike a balance between allowing people to discuss issues relevant to their lives while also protecting the creative and entertaining platforms our community wants," Chandlee said in a statement. quoted from The Verge, Thursday, September 22.

The new policy will be rolled out over the next few weeks, under which politicians and parties will be prohibited from directing viewers to their campaign websites to make donations.

The move is part of TikTok's broader election integrity initiative this year.

Earlier in August, the company outlined its plans to tackle the dangerous threat of election misinformation by banning influencers from being paid to post political content.

TikTok also said it would start labeling videos that contain false or unconfirmed election-related information.